Blues Performers Will Be Tough Act To Follow

RIM REVIEW

A warm summer night, graced by a sliver of a silvery moon, soft, green grass and cool Rim air, topped off with great blues music and you have a recipe for entertainment that's hard to beat.

Common Ground Blues drew an enthusiastic crowd to Green Valley Park Saturday night. People had blankets and lawn chairs spread all through the amphitheater area and around its perimeter.

Richard Haddad/Rim Review

Glen Farkash, lead vocalist with Common Ground Blues, does the
gritty groaning thing in the group's Concert Under the Stars
performance Saturday at Green Valley Park. This week it will be big
band music.

But it wasn't a laid back evening by any means.

The five-man group had an audience of all ages wrapped up in its cool combinations. Rim residents, from pre-schoolers and first-graders to grandmas and grandpas, responded when Common Ground Blues reached in and grabbed hold of that ages-old need to move to the music. Even the people taking an evening stroll in the park seemed to step to the blues beat.

Vocalist Glen Farkash has a range that reaches from the gravelly tones made famous by Louis Armstrong and Joe Cocker to the smoother sounds of Paul Simon. But he would not get near the mileage from his talent without the engines of musicians Tim Kinsey, Brian Masherella, Peter Davis and Jason Kay.

The combination of these five great artists produced a sound that set a high standard for the rest of the Concert Under the Stars acts to follow.

The Payson Parks and Recreation Department did a terrific service to the fans of great music when it booked CGB.

Make a date to be at the rest of the Saturday night Concerts Under the Stars. The performances are from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. every Saturday through July 24, except July 3, when the starlight concert will be held Sunday, July 4.